Gun Thread: Less Than Robust Content Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be early December? Have you been shooting? How'd you do? Did you exceed your own expectations or not so much?

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Q: Weasel, how do you define "shooting well"?
A: Short Answer: Knowing where the bullet is going when you pull the trigger, and having it go there.
A: Longer Answer: Shooting consistently and predictably and showing reasonable improvement over time.

You can call it lots of things but it all boils down to the same outcome, and that is consistently placing shots where you want them to go. Notice how I did not say "shooting well every single time?" Unless you're in combat, when shooting you are really just competing against your personal best and whatever benchmark for a swell day at the range you have set for yourself. Sounds great and easy-peasy Weasel! I have a brain so how do I get there, you ask? Well one sure-fire way is to practice while focusing on good solid fundamentals. Hell, I'd even be happy if you simply didn't practice reinforcing bad habits. But with that said, you need to be on top of your mental game too.

Whatever your skill set, you need to have a positive mindset. You need to be confident and have faith in your skills, whatever the level. I have talked about this before, but I have seen guys lose a match simply because their head was not in the game. I kid you not. If you drag your shit to the range and are just going through the motions, you might as well stay home on the couch. You need to be actively engaged in what you are doing with a clear idea of what you are trying to accomplish and a set of measurable objectives for each practice session. If what you are doing isn't working, STOP and figure out what is going on. Don't try and make up for a bad stuation with an increased volume of fire. Go back to your fundamentals and make sure you aren't doing something goofy. Take a break for a few minutes if needed. I have never once seen a shooter improve a bad day at the range by using improper form harder or faster..

Dealing With An Angry Range
I would like to tell you otherwise, but no matter how proficient a shooter is, everyone has a bad day at the range from time to time. Lord knows that I do. It happens and you just have to deal with it. Most of the time there is a cascading effect and you go from bad, to worse, to wondering why you even bother. Don't miss the opportunity to get some benefit out of a disastrous performance though by taking notes and trying to identify what happened.
If starting over in a range session and re-focusing on fundamentals doesn't work, then perhaps it's time to pack up for the day. Sometimes the range is just angry.

Ammo Link-O-Rama
I'm really very seriously not kidding around anymore. Buy Ammo
AmmoSeek - online ammo search tool
GunBot - online ammo search tool
SG Ammo
Palmetto State Armory
Georgia Arms
AmmoMan
Target Sports USA
Bud's Gun Shop
American Elite Ammo NEW!

Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!

That's it for this week - have you been to the range?

posted by Weasel at 07:00 PM

| Access Comments